Love Seat
by chartreuseian
Summary: There's something strange going on and Helen can't quite put her finger on it. Though she is a little distracted but, well, that's half the problem! Post season 4 funtimes :)
1. Compromising Positions

**Happy Single's Awareness Day! :P This is just a silly little ditty that's been in my head for a while now and I decided to post in commemoration of this most romantic day. There are two more chapters to come, I think and I should be able to write them in the next few days so stay tuned :)**

**xx**

* * *

"We have to stop doing this," Helen huffed, throwing her head back as Nikola peppered her neck with eager kisses. He grunted noncommittally, her words not swaying the ardent affection he was displaying. His hands were clamped around her waist, holding her tightly to his chest while she had one leg sliding around his hips, her hands in his hair, holding him to her.

"I mean it," she tried again, the tail end of her words morphing into a tiny moan of pleasure. She shivered, back arching to press her chest to his. "We can't keep doing this, Nikola. It's a bad idea."

"I know," he finally muttered before kissing his way up to her jaw. "This is a bad idea."

Helen moaned her agreement but found herself incapable of much more than that. Nikola's body was heavy atop hers, pushing her down further into the soft cushions of the sofa they were on. One of his hands slipped down to her hip, pulling her further under him until Helen had no choice but to raise both her legs and wrap them around his waist. Nikola mumbled something against her jaw and groaned, his hips beginning a restless rhythm against hers.

This was bad, a small voice reminded Helen. They'd decided not 12 hours ago that they ought to stop sleeping together like this but here they were again. Ever since Nikola had moved into the new Sanctuary, it had been like this. They'd meet for a cup of tea or sometimes even wine and end up at least partially naked, grinding together on the couch. Only twice had they managed to hold off until they found their way to an actual bedroom and only once had they actually found the will power to pull away from one another.

She was giving in far too easily, Helen decided. Today, all it had taken was for Nikola to brush his fingers against her cheek and she'd been all over him. Yesterday it had been holding hands and the day before, he'd simply smiled at her. It was bordering on ridiculous.

But for all sleeping with her oldest friend was a bad idea, Helen knew she didn't care as much as she was pretending. Nikola was good to her and with her and left her with memories that were distracting during meetings. More than once she'd found herself daydreaming about their little trysts, half fantasising about running off and finding him for another round. Of course, she shook the paltry day dreams off easily enough most days, comfortable with assigning them the title of being foolishly feminine.

It was easy enough to push away what little attraction Helen normally felt for Nikola most of the time. In fact, it was easy to do almost all of the time. It was only moments like these that everything came bubbling to the surface. When his lips were attacking hers and his hands caressing her softly, she couldn't deny the stirrings of something stronger than lust deep in her gut. All she wanted to do at that point was haul him closer and never let him go. The sensation was odd and entirely unwarranted but no matter how hard she tried to deny it, it was there.

The most unusual thing, though, was that she'd been fighting the feelings for the better part of two centuries with reasonable success. They'd slept together on occasion, yes, but Helen had always been able to say no when he came back for a second round. Now she couldn't. She'd tried, oh how she'd tried but, as the saying went, resistance was futile.

"Stop thinking," Nikola growled against that spot below her ear. "I don't like it when you're distracted."

"You are a needy, needy man, Mr. Tesla," she gasped, threading a hand through his hair, nails scraping against his scalp.

He gave her a non-committal grunt in response but didn't fight the accusation. Probably because he knew it was true. They were both needy, too needy. To the point where Helen's attachment to their physical encounters was getting worrying.

_This is foolish_, a voice in her head told her. _Foolish and reckless and bound to end badly. Do you really want to hurt Nikola? Does he deserve that?_

"I said stop thinking," Nikola half barked, pulling back so he could glare at her. "What could possibly be so distracting?"

Helen bit her lip. She couldn't admit she'd been distracted by the man who was currently between her thighs. It made no sense, even to her lust addled mind.

"Shut up and kiss me before I change my mind," she told him with a scowl. Nikola seemed to consider his options for a moment, giving her a quizzical look before relenting and moving back down to her. Their lips met and Helen was almost startled by his desperation but even more so by her own desperate reciprocation. She couldn't change her mind now, however much a part of her might have wanted to. So, instead, Helen arched her back, pressing as much of her body against Nikola as she could.

His moan of approval more than made the soon-to-be kink in her back worth it.

* * *

"We... We really... have... to stop," Nikola gasped out. Helen turned her head to peer off the edge of the couch to where her lover was sprawled on the ground. One of his arms was thrown out to the side while the other rested across his bare abdomen. His dress shirt was unbuttoned and crumpled from where Helen had clung to it, his pants still unzipped and his belt loose though he was far more 'decent' than when Helen had last looked down to him.

"It's getting," Helen began before swallowing heavily. "Ridiculous."

Nikola moaned his agreement and nodded limply, eyes falling shut.

"And I don't know if my back can take much more of this damn couch," she added after a beat. Nikola let out a snort of laughter, throwing his head back and smiling broadly.

"Old woman," he teased.

Helen groaned, rolling her eyes. "You really ought to stop goading me."

"Or what? You're obviously too exhausted to do anything because you're practically a dinosaur."

He stopped smirking right after she tossed her rather pointy high heel in his direction.

Well, it wasn't so much as a throw as a half-hearted lob that sent the shoe off of her foot and onto his stomach.

He glared up at her, the still knotted tie around his throat, loosened to the point of absurdity.

"Cruel woman," he muttered.

"You'll get over it," she promised, raising a hand to her chest. The skin was cooling, the sweat slick across her body and her heart beat was slowing to a more reasonable pace. Her shirt was most likely ruined, more than a few buttons sacrificed in the heat of passion but what Helen lamented more than the destruction was that now, once again, she would have to sneak back to her rooms to find a fresh one that was similar enough to the one she'd put on in the morning that the others would be less likely to notice the difference. Perhaps she could find a sweater to cover up the bulk of her top...

"You're thinking again," scolded Nikola. "If you won't let us cuddle and enjoy the post coital bliss, at least do me the courtesy of pretending to be boneless with pleasure."

Helen chuckled and turned once more to face the man laying spread eagle on the ground.

"Forgive me for thinking," she teased. "Though I'll admit, I always thought it was what you admired in me. A woman that thought."

"Hmmm." He turned his head, giving her a queer look that made Helen suck in a large lungful of air. All of a sudden, the world began to blur at the edges and all she could see was Nikola. She couldn't help but watch the way his chest rose and fall; all she wanted was to run her hands over his body, following the light trail of hair that disappeared below his waistband.

Slowly, he reached for her, fingers grazing her knee. Biting her lip, Helen let her head fall back as a moan escaped her.

"We can't..." she groaned. "Not again."

"No," Nikola agreed, his voice a few octaves deeper before and it sent shivers straight to Helen's stomach. And lower.

"I... Nikola, we have to stop. I'm not sure how much more I can take before I... Before I..."

"I know." The hand on her knee moved up slowly, his touch becoming firmer. "This is a bad idea, Helen. We can't..."

And just as Helen turned, ready to crawl off the couch and back into Nikola's arms (for reasons her mind couldn't identify), the lights went out. Nikola propped himself up rather quickly, frowning as he looked around rather pointlessly. It took Helen a moment longer to break through the haze that had overtaken her common sense and sprang forward quickly, scrambling for the phone that she had discarded somewhere.

She reached behind a cushion, her hand closing around the cool plastic just moments before it began buzzing and beeping for her attention.

"Hello?" she answered breathlessly as she reached for her shirt where it was crumpled on the floor beside one of Nikola's shoes.

"Magnus? Where are you? What's happened?"

"Go find Henry," she instructed her protégé. "I'm sure it's nothing, just a problem with a few of the connections, I'd say."

"It's pretty widespread, Magnus," Will replied anxiously as Helen struggled to get her arms into her top without losing her grip on the phone. Nikola seemed to understand that this was the time for more clothing and less talking and was quickly making an attempt to straighten his very rumpled clothes. "... and the turbines in sector six are out of action too."

"Sure," she said anxiously. "Just get to Henry, I'm sure he knows what's going on. I'll meet you there."

She hung up abruptly, taking a deep breath to try and clear her head.

"I take it we've bigger fish to fry?" Nikola said from where he stood a few foot from where Helen sat on the little love seat. She looked towards him, prepared to dismiss him with a flick of the wrist but the words caught in her throat. Instead, all she could see was the mark fading from his neck. The one she'd left. The one she really ought to redo. After all, that pesky vampire healing meant that it would be gone within the hour...

"Helen," Nikola said cautiously. Again, she tried to respond, only to get distracted by his lips instead.

Thankfully, her phone rang once more.

_Saved by the bell_, she thought with a grimace. Though whether she really wanted saving? Well, that was another question entirely.


	2. Faulty Wiring

"I don't understand how this happened," Helen said with a frown. She was trying very hard not to think about the fact that her top was missing a button (admittedly, it was impressive that that was _all_ she was missing), focusing instead on the screens before her in the dimly lit room. With only the backup generators to keep things going, the screens provided the bulk of the illumination for the occupants of the room.

"Maybe Tesla did it?" Will put in, giving the vampire in question a dark look. Nikola scowled in reply but, for once, didn't retort and Helen breathed a sigh of relief. Nikola didn't need to draw any extra attention to himself at that point, the lipstick on the collar of his shirt more than enough of a worry. Plus, Helen was rather certain they both reeked of their previous indiscretion and the quicker they could handle whatever power failure they were now suffering, the better.

"I can vouch for Nikola," Helen cut in smoothly. "He and I were in the library for the past hour, reading up o-"

"Hour and a half," Nikola said tersely, cutting in and giving Helen a dark look. She merely rolled her eyes, biting her tongue to avoid calling him a show off.

"Regardless, we were busy so the blame for this... whatever this is, must fall elsewhere," she finished up. "Henry, do you have anything to give us a place to start from?"

"Uh, not really, Doc," he said, scratching his head. "I mean, it's kinda like the cables supplying this half of the Sanctuary just... I dunno. It's like they snapped or something."

"Snapped?" she echoed.

"Electrical wiring doesn't just snap," Nikola said, his tone biting.

"Yeah, well, you tell me what happened then," the younger man half grumbled in reply. "Because right now, I can't find anything else, all right?"

Nikola huffed a breath but folded his arms and turned away, displaying a small tail of shirt that hadn't quite been tucked into his trousers. Helen almost, _almost _lost it laughing at his misfortune. Instead, she simply smiled as both Will and Henry tried to stifle their amusement.

For some reason, Helen now felt a whole lot more rational. She could even look at Nikola and not have to bite her lip to avoid jumping at him. Hell, she felt she could probably even swat his shoulder for his insolence without developing the urge to get naked in public places. It was strange but a very welcome change and though it brought up several questions Helen knew she would have to find it in herself to answer, she was able to push it all aside rather easily. After all, she had a power problem to fix.

"Will," she began firmly, "you need to get over to the secure levels as soon as you can and set up a few of the portable generators. We need to restore the security systems over there at the very least."

Will nodded, gathering up a tablet and a small handful of tools.

"Henry, you stay here and try to isolate the problem. I want you to make sure this doesn't happen to the rest of the network. Whatever it is, you need to find a way to prevent it from happening again, understand?"

"Sure thing, boss," he said with a mock salute.

"Now, is there any way to repair the damage that's been done?" she asked, hands on hips.

Henry looked thoughtful for a second before he made a face.

"I... I'm not sure," he admitted. "We won't really know until we get someone down there to assess the damage. I mean, I think it's a physical problem with the wiring but I can't be sure."

"All right then," Helen said. "Nikola and I shall go down and see what can be done. I'll take a radio with me and we'll take it from there, OK?"

The two younger men nodded and, trying not to let her discomfort show, Helen moved to stride past them, pushing Nikola out the door as she went but, before she could get too far, Will grabbed her arm.

"What's that on your neck, Magnus?" he asked, his voice low. She could see the genuine concern in his eyes but, even before she could bring her hand up to where he was looking, she had a rather strong suspicion of what it was.

She had a hickey.

Not in more than a century had Helen Magnus worn a hickey on her neck.

She could feel the colour flooding her cheeks, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. She couldn't say anything, in fact she couldn't move. Her body was immobilised whether by embarrassment of fear, she wasn't sure. Instead, she just watched Will, praying that he wouldn't figure it out. Her protégé wasn't exactly known for his habit of missing the glaringly obvious as it was thrust before him.

"Helen?" Nikola barked impatiently from the door.

His tone snapped her out of her revere and, finally, she was able to pull free of Will's grip. She mumbled something rather incoherent before slipping out the door. She kept walking, Nikola trailing along behind her in blissful silence until they reached the elevator. They stepped into the space together but, before Helen could reach the control panel to send them down to the basement levels, his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her back against his chest. His lips met the exposed length of her neck before she could protest but, with her new found ability to actually think clearly, she pushed him away.

"You've done enough damage," she growled at him, slapping his shoulder.

Nikola gave her the most adorably confused look and, if she hadn't been so upset with him, Helen knew she would have crumbled. As it was, she turned away from him, crossing her arms as the elevator door slid shut.

"Helen..." he began cautiously.

"Don't even try," she warned.

"But I-"

"You gave me a hickey," she growled. "A hickey, Nikola. For heaven's sake..."

"I'm fairly sure you gave as good as you got," he replied loftily.

Helen scoffed in disgust before turning back to face him.

"Well, either way, it doesn't matter," she snapped. "Because it is never happening again."

"Why don't I believe you?" he mused, taking a lazy step towards her.

"I'm not kidding, Nikola. This... It's over. Don't go getting any ideas."

He merely hummed, taking another step towards her. Suddenly Helen wished she'd grabbed her gun. She'd abandoned it in her office before she'd met Nikola for what was supposed to be nothing more than a debrief after his latest experiment for a cleaner energy option.

She'd put him in charge of maintaining the entire network's power requirements and put it to him that he ought to improve on what she readily admitted was a hodge-podge of a system. It had given him purpose and direction (whilst allowing just the right amount of time to work on his little side projects) and given Helen the opportunity to have regular meetings with him. Part of her wondered if it would be enough to keep his attention for more than a year or two but, for the meantime, she'd put it from her mind, content with what she had.

"Admit it," he cooed, one hand slipping around her waist lightly. "You like our little... _trysts._ In fact, I know you more than like them. Need I remind you of the things you say?"

"Shut up," she growled, slapping away his hand. Though she felt the stirrings of arousal at his words, she found it relatively easy to push him away. Why her control kept slipping was beyond her. He was attractive, yes. She felt attracted to him at times, yes. And sometimes, the thought of Nikola and what he could do to her body gave her more than a shiver, yes but she had just proven her ability to control herself around him, had she not?

"Oh, you're no fun," Nikola said with a pout, finally stepping back and crossing his arms in defeat. "I'd say you need to loosen up but I'm starting to wonder if you're not a lost cause."

Helen held her tongue, instead waiting for the elevator doors to open once more as she silently congratulated herself for fending him off successfully for the first time in far too long.

* * *

"It's like they've been chewed through," Nikola said, his voice filled with wonder as he inspected the wires in question.

"What would do something like this?" Helen mused half to herself. She fingered the exposed wire for a moment before straightening up and brushing a few curls of hair from her eyes. Reaching behind her, she brushed a hand against of the small of her back, frowning at the knot forming there. Finally, after more than two hundred and seventy bloody years, she was suffering aches and pains from not sitting correctly. She'd watched it plague friend after friend, always wondering if 'back pain', in its ever so ambiguous form would ever plague her.

Helen went to turn to Nikola, ready to ask after repairs when, out of the blue, she felt another set of hands on the small of her back. Before she could think better of it, Helen found herself leaning back into the touch, moaning as the long fingers rubbed at the tension that had been growing there.

"You need to get more sleep," Nikola murmured as he stepped that bit closer to her, his hands abandoning her back in favour of her hips. Helen's eyes flew open as he pulled her back against him and she sucked in a deep breath.

She could feel Nikola tense behind her, obviously unsure if she'd push him away but, all of a sudden, Helen couldn't really remember why leaning back against him was such a bad idea. After all, it was February and, even with the heating system that kept the entire complex comfortable, the air was still cool enough to make another person's body heat preferable. And Nikola was warm.

As she let herself relax back against him, Helen smiled. Nikola was warm _and_ he smelt good. She'd always appreciated that about her vampire. She moaned softly, as her eyes drifted closed and she turned in his arms, letting hers slip around his neck. Nikola, if he was shocked at her actions, didn't let it show, instead tightening his grip on her.

Running a hand up the back of his neck, her fingers knotted in his hair, holding him close to her. In return, Nikola bowed his head, burying his nose in the mess of her hair, moaning softly.

"God, I love your hair," he muttered, his lips finding her neck.

"I like yours too," Helen whispered in reply, arching her back before biting her lip. _God_, he felt good, she thought. More than good, he felt like heaven. He eased all the aches in pains she didn't know she had. She never wanted to leave his arms again.

"I... I think... Does this mean I don't, uh, have to win you the day after tomorrow?" Nikola asked, his voice breaking as his hands explored her curves with slow precision.

"What's... What's the day after tomorrow?" Helen asked, barely paying attention as she continued to let her body fall prey to his touch.

"February 15th," he grunted before pulling back and claiming her lips outright. As Helen clung to Nikola with all she had, she left the vague recollection of why the date was important wash over her. She recalled hazy memories of a time long ago when she'd thought Nikola a rather strange romantic for insisting on celebrating the date after the historically more significant one but right in that moment, their anti-Valentine's Day Valentine's Day didn't matter to her.

All she could focus on was him; the way he held her, the way he touched her, the way he kissed her like a man starved. It was all she could do to hold him close and reciprocate with everything she had. In fact, she was so absorbed in him that it wasn't until the crackly voice from her walkie became frightened that she pulled away from Nikola and remembered the wires.

"Magnus? Magnus, come in. Magnus, can you hear me?"

She turned, unwilling to let go of Nikola as she searched the near-by area for the source of the noise.

"Magnus, it's Henry. He's figured it out."

She could see the walkie, discarded on the small table by the door with her tablet and Nikola's jacket.

"Magnus, you aren't going to believe this. It's the Nubbins."

At that, she turned to Nikola, reason flooding her system and allowing her to shove him away.

"You bastard..."


	3. Nest

"You absolute bastard," Helen hissed again, narrowing her eyes at Nikola.

"Uh, Magnus? Magnus, are you there?" the crackly voice from the walkie continued.

Helen opened her mouth to yell at Nikola some more but decided against it for the time being, instead striding over to where her walkie rested.

"I'm here, Will," she barked. "I'll be up to help you contain them in a moment. Nikola will stay down here to fix what he can."

"Uh, all right," he replied uncertainly. "We're getting the gear from storeroom 3A, see you there, yeah?"

"Two minutes," Helen replied. She shoved the now silent radio into her pocket, still fuming. Now, more than ever she wished she'd taken her gun. How could she have been so foolish as to fall for Nikola's hi-jinks once more? She knew she ought to be upset with herself more than him, after all, she had had literally hundreds of years to wise up to his games but it didn't make it easier. Why couldn't he just be normal? Why couldn't he just leave her be? Did he really have to use his genius to frustrate and compromise her?

"Helen..." the vampire in question began again.

"No," she said harshly, spinning on her heel to glare at him. "Do not even start with me."

"But what did I do?" he cried, taking a step towards her. His arms were held out to his sides in a show of innocence but Helen couldn't quite find it in herself to believe him.

"I said don't," she growled.

"Helen, I was just as in the dark as you as to what's been going on around here."

"Riiiight," she drawled. "You're completely innocent here."

"Do you think I enjoy being a slave to my baser urges? I mean, some of the perks are all right but for the most part, this isn't how I wanted this to play out."

"Oh please," Helen snapped back. "Like you didn't plan this." She stepped towards him, closing the distance between them and jabbing a finger against his chest. "Hell, I have half a mind to check the security logs and see if you released the little buggers yourself."

He slapped her hand away, grabbing her wrist and pulling her closer to him.

"Do you really think me so immoral?" he growled, their noses almost touching. "I want you, Helen, I make no secret of that but this..." His eyes went black as he snarled at her. "These damn pheromones are messing with me just as much as they did with you."

She scoffed, leaning in even closer and taking a deep breath before attempting to continue her tirade but, before she could blink, her lips were otherwise occupied. Who had started it, she would never know and, part of her didn't care. She was still angry, still absolutely furious with him for she had no doubt in her mind that he'd had some hand in the Nubbins escape but she let that anger pour forth into the kiss.

And, it seemed, he was doing the same. His grip on her was nearly bruising, his lips hungry and furious as they worked against hers. They gasped in breath in the milliseconds their mouths were apart before diving for one another again. Helen's hands fisted in his shirt, tugging mercilessly at the fabric to the point where she suspected it may well rip. Not that she cared.

Nikola's arms were around her waist, holding her as close as he could manage while one hand desperately scrunched up the back of her shirt. Helen gasped into his mouth as his fingers found the skin of her back, eyes flying open as she arched into his embrace.

"You know... you know this is just the... the pheromones," he gasped, raking his nails across her skin. The pain bordered so closely on pleasure that Helen found herself moaning as she buried her face against his neck.

"All your fault," she muttered before using her body weight to push him backwards. Nikola went willingly until his back hit the cool stone wall at which point he grabbed Helen even tighter, flipping them around until she was pinned in his place.

Helen, for her part, barely had the chance to breathe, let alone think as to what had happened before Nikola's mouth was on her neck, worrying the mark he'd left just hours before. She moaned, her head falling back as she threaded a hand through his fly away hair.

"Niko," she breathed, eyes shut tight as she bit her bottom lip.

"Sometimes I really hate you," he growled against her neck.

"My sentiments exactly."

He chuckled against her pulse point as his hands grabbed the front of her shirt, tearing apart the two halves quickly enough that Helen didn't have time to protest. Before she knew it, his lips were over her heart, one of his hands knotted in the hair at the back of her neck to keep her steady.

"Magnus?"

At that she opened her eyes though it did not deter Nikola.

"Magnus, it's Will. Where are you?"

Nikola groaned against her skin but didn't make to pull back.

"Magnus? Magnus, are you OK? Are you almost here? We don't want to start without you."

"Off, Nikola," Helen huffed though she was finding it harder and harder to want him anywhere but where he was.

"Maybe later." His reply was muffled and Helen chuckled breathlessly.

"Maybe before... before Will comes down," she suggested.

"Mmmm... But we're... we're proving a theory," he replied, pulling away just long enough to move up and capture her lips again. Helen groaned as she clutched Nikola to her.

"What theory?" she gasped.

"That there are Nubbins somewhere down here," Nikola said hurriedly before kissing her soundly once more. Helen barely heard him, more interested in just how quickly she could divest him of his shirt.

"Magnus!" The crackly voice from the walkie sounded increasingly desperate and finally, finally Nikola pulled away, leaving Helen slumped against the wall. Well, at least until he grabbed the walkie from her pocket.

"Shut up, Huggybear," he hissed, barely moving from Helen. "We're trying to flush out the furry bastards. Keep quiet or I'll feed you to them, understand?"

The walkie went silent, finally and Nikola let it clatter to the ground. Helen was just about to push away when he kissed her once more, this time slipping his hands down to her thighs and, in one smooth movement, hauling her into his arms.

With one arm under her arse, he spun them around, walking blindly towards another wall. Helen, more out of instinct that logical decision wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck just as they crossed the room. He was surprisingly gentle was he pressed her into the next wall though she still grunted at the impact. One his hands groped at her blindly while they kissed messily, and it took Helen a moment to realise that she didn't have his complete attention though. One of his wondrous, wondrous was feeling for something beside where they were.

There was a strange clank of metal that drew Helen's attention briefly but then Nikola's _other_ hand did something rather lovely and all together mind bending and she just couldn't quite make herself focus on the continuous clank.

For a few moments, Helen thought of nothing but the man pinning her to one of the slightly dingy walls of the basement. Until she heard a squeak. It was faint but not a sound she'd easily forget.

She turned her head just in time to see a pair of bright yellow eyes widen in alarm as a makeshift metal cage descended around it and its mate.

"Gotcha, beastie," Nikola said with a smirk though he did sound rather breathless. He had one hand outstretched towards where the Nubbins were squeaking their little hearts out on the other side of the metal.

"Nikola?" Helen started, swallowing heavily.

"I told you I wasn't behind this," he huffed with a grin.

"I..." Helen wet her lips. "I fail to see how this clears your name."

Nikola merely chuckled but slowly stepped back, letting Helen slide down until the tips of her high heels hit the floor.

"Could you at least consider me innocent until proven guilty in the mean time?" he replied, rubbing his free hand over his face.

She chuckled, straightening out her clothes as best she could.

"Keep those things contained and I'll think about it," she replied, hiding her smirk.

"Anything for you," he said, leaning in to brush his lips against her ear, "sweetcheeks."

She was fairly confident that he didn't actually feel too much pain when she slapped him for that.

* * *

Half an hour (and several near misses in terms of the groping) later, Helen and Nikola were exhausted, sick of the fuzzy pheromone balls and more than ready to call it a day but, after an equally tired plea from Will and Henry up by the offices, they found themselves dragging Henry's vacuum-esque Nubbin sucker up another flight of stairs. Because, of course, the power was still out to all but the most critical systems.

"Which corridor?" Helen huffed into the walkie.

"Just past your office," came the whispered reply. "We're trying to flush them out."

Helen nodded, stashing the walkie and looking to Nikola. His shirt was mis-buttoned, his hair flattened in the back from where she'd held her hands and there was even a tiny skerrick of Helen's lipstick on his bottom lip. Just looking at him made Helen remember not to take deep breaths.

She didn't need any pheromones to make matters worse.

They rounded the corner in step, Nikola pointing the nozzle of the giant vacuum towards the end of the corridor as if afraid something was about to jump out at him. It would have been comical if it wasn't for the site that greeted them.

Henry was lying on his stomach, head and shoulders beneath the small sofa at the end of the corridor. Will was holding his own Nubbin-sucking-gun with both hands, grimacing slightly as he peered around Henry.

Helen was just about to call out and ask if they really needed their help but, before she could open her mouth, Henry sneezed, hitting his head on the loveseat and yelping. The following squeaks had him shuffling out from beneath the chair at lightning speed, rolling away until he slammed into the wall.

Three tiny brown balls of fluff barrelled out from underneath, heading straight for Helen and Nikola. They came to an abrupt stop, squeaking just as Nikola pointed the nozzle at them and flicked the switch. Watching them fly into the plastic tube was bizarrely satisfying for Helen.

For a moment, silence fell and they all held their breath. It seemed almost surreal to think that they were perhaps done with their ordeal but, when Henry puffed out a sigh of relief, Helen let herself relax.

In fact, if the others weren't there, she was fairly sure she would have collapsed against Nikola's side.

"I... I think there's a nest behind there," Henry gasped. "Maybe we should fumigate or something."

"How did they even get out?" Will grumbled.

"They apparently chewed through the heating vents," Henry replied.

"Their habitat is two floors below us," Helen said, eyes widening as she started to understand. "Two floors _directly_ below us."

"Yeah," Henry nodded, still panting for breath. "Sneaky little... They climbed up. We chased them from... from the basement up to here."

"How did it take you all so long to notice?" Nikola asked, narrowing his eyes. He perched one hand on his hips as he surveyed the area critically, frowning at the two rather dusty young men.

"Uh, because they aren't exactly top of the watch list," Will snapped. "I mean, they're just... fluff balls."

"But fluff balls that managed to get around your apparently fool proof security system of wolf boys?"

"I never said it was fool proof," Henry argued, raising one finger.

"I believe your exact words were 'nothin' ain't gettin' out of thar'," Nikola retorted. Henry opened his mouth to reply but Nikola held up a hand.

"It's really not smart to argue with him," Helen advised tiredly. "Eidetic memory."

Henry merely waved a hand and fell silent.

"Memory or otherwise," Will said, "I'm taking these little critters down to the coldest habitat we can find. We need to build a bigger enclosure for these guys tomorrow too, I swear there are like, three times as many as before."

"And perimeter sensors," Henry grumbled as he heaved himself up. "But after sleep. Sleep first."

Helen chuckled, giving Henry a pat on the back as the two men stumbled past. Nikola shoved his Nubbin vacuum into Will's arms as he went without batting an eye. The younger man muttered something under his breath that Helen knew was probably supposed to be offensive but, thankfully, Nikola let it slide.

He waited until the boys rounded the corner before groaning heavily and walking towards the love seat at the end of the corridor. He sat down with a flourish, throwing his head back and groaning dramatically once more.

"Oh it wasn't that bad, was it?" Helen asked, moving towards the sofa and dropping down beside him.

"Which part?" he drawled. "The making out part or the chasing after the evil fuzzballs bit?"

She slapped his shoulder but it was half hearted. Everything was just a little sore and right now, her previous anger at Nikola was hard to find once more.

Nikola turned his head and gave her a trademark smirk.

"But you're right, it reminded me of old times. Only it was nice to be running after something rather than from it," he allowed, eyes twinkling.

"We chased things too," she retorted with a grin.

"But more often than not, we were the ones being chased."

"Hmm, I suppose," she allowed, leaning into the couch. It was rather comfortable and it had been a long, long day.

"Oh, you know I'm right," he half whispered, leaning in. "Even you admitted, my memory is infallible."

"I didn't say infallible," she argued.

"Yeah, but you meant it."

She was chuckling at his devilish grin as she realised how close he was. Much closer than she'd anticipated.

Close enough that when he moved in to kiss her, she didn't have a chance to pull away. Not that she particularly wanted to. This kiss was... different to the others they'd shared. It was chaste, sweet almost.

It made her heart flutter.

Or it did until there was a squeak somewhere behind them and they both pulled apart in alarm.

At the same time, they both turned onto their knees, peering down behind the sofa in time to see a pair of bright yellow eyes peek out of the chewed through piece of the wall.

"WILLIAM!" they both bellowed.

* * *

**And there you have it, the end of this little ditty :) I hope y'all enjoyed it, it was a fun concept to come up with even if sometimes, when writing, I tried to pull my hair out :P Anyway, this is dedicated first, to my Sanctuary customer at work who won't actually read this but who is just my favourite customer of all time and then secondly to all the lovlies who have taken the time to review this! The little dings in my inbox are like warm hugs for my heart!**

**xx**


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